VILLAGERS have demanded that a “hideous” £1 million barn be ripped down after it was built without planning permission.
The locals of Paul, near Penzance, have been locked in a bitter planning row for 18 months over the unauthorised development which they sat “dwarfs” the other homes in the area.
The barn has been put on the market despite the retrospective planning permission being rejectedCredit: SWNS
Locals are demanding the £1M barn is demolished – after it was built and put on the marketCredit: SWNS
Villagers have branded the dwelling an ‘unsightly travesty of the planning regulations’Credit: SWNS
Developers have been twice denied retrospective planning permission by Cornwall Council and have lost another appeal yet the barn still stands.
‘PLANNING APOCALYPSE’
The feud, dubbed a “planning apocalypse” by residents, has been ongoing since 2021 when a developer bought an agricultural barn and its surrounding land.
The developers then applied for a “Class Q barn conversion” which allows for buildings to be converted into homes, forgoing the typical planning process.
The neighbours argued that the developers went “way beyond” the agreed development by pulling a large area of land into the site, building new walls and a new drive.
They fear that if the development continues without protest, it could have severe implications for future developments of agricultural land across the UK.
Pictures taken earlier this week reveal that no enforcement action has been undertaken and the Cornish locals demanded the land be restored
A spokesperson for a group of locals protesting the development said despite the multiple rejections, there was “serious concern” that the council has “dragged its feet throughout and will again be very slow to act.”
They added: “Cornwall Council enforcement should act very quickly here as Central Bedfordshire Council did with the unauthorised extension to the Captain Tom memorial building.
“When the developers’ appeal was dismissed the council promptly demolished the building.”
The initial development was approved by Cornwall Council, but following the additional work, applications for retrospective planning were rejected twice last year.
After the Planning Inspectorate threw out another appeal by the developer, residents have called for enforcement.
The council said they were in discussions with the developer on “putting things” right after the planning permission was refused.
The spokesperson for the residents countered that “Nothing was ‘put right’ and instead the completed half of the converted barn was put on the market for over £1 million.”
The residents are calling for Cornwall Council to take enforcement actionCredit: SWNS
The barn is the first thing visitors to the village will seeCredit: SWNS
The locals have filed multiple objections to the plans.
Resident Andrew Pentreath wrote: “The ‘plot’ has hugely increased in size, dwarfing the surrounding properties.
“It has become known as a “Planning Apocalypse”. This is now a landmark case and any decisions made by Cornwall Council will have enormous repercussions nationally.
“The whole project is illegal, ugly, out of keeping and hugely out of proportion.
“The earthwork should be restored to the farmland it formerly was.”
Dr Perry wrote: “The developers and their planning consultants either ‘get away with planning murder’ in plain sight here or they are stopped in this endeavour by Cornwall Council.
“In addition to the conversion of the barn itself, a very large area of previously regularly cropped farmland, at least 10 times the barn’s footprint, has been engineered as part of the development.”
He said this included two “highly incongruous-looking walls” that he said had “openly flouting the Class Q regulations.”
Fellow local, Martin Freeman described it as a “hideous blight on the landscape which dominates the main entrance to the village and is the first thing that residents and visitors see.”
He added: “Class Q conditions state that the conversion should be in keeping with the rural setting and the garden cannot be larger than the building’s footprint.
“How do the results, including the monstrous dividing wall separating the two houses’ garden and the hugely expanded garden area, fit with those criteria?”
David Lenderyou branded the barn an “unsightly travesty of the planning regulations”.
He added: “The development is an eyesore as it stands and the addition of unnecessary access can only add to its ugliness and unsuitability in a rural landscape.
‘AN ARCHITECTURAL HORROR’
Richard Crowe wrote: “It’s an ugly travesty of a building, an architectural horror that is being now so cynically converted, no doubt to cash in on the holiday homes boom already ruining Mousehole.
“It is an utterly cynical attempt to use the barn conversion loophole in the planning legislation.”
In response to the resident’s calls for enforcement action, Cornwall Council said: “The council’s planning enforcement team have noted the appeal decision and will be working with the landowner to secure a satisfactory outcome.”
A statement submitted on behalf of applicant Alasdair Macualay outlined the proposal and claimed the site would provide “improved vehicular accesses for residential dwellings on the site.”
The statement added that transforming the land to give the dwellings “outdoor amenity space” represented “sustainable development”.
The developer used a Class Q barn conversion loopholeCredit: SWNS
The residents are calling for the surrounding fields to be restoredCredit: SWNS
The planning duel has been ongoing for 18 monthsCredit: SWNS 
